Olivier Busquet ruffled some feathers this week by publicly stating that anyone who uses Real Time Assistance (RTA) in poker is a “cheater” who is “stealing” from fellow players – and was shocked that Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu even considered using pre-flop charts in their infamous Grudge Match.
Not to make this personal but I was absolutely floored by @DougPolkVids and @RealKidPoker even discussing the possibility of using preflop charts not because it’s cheating if they agree (they can agree to what they want) but because of how incredibly and profoundly lazy it is.
— Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet) July 10, 2021
Busquet condemning usage of solvers
The New York-born pro was clear in his condemnation of those who rely on any of the various external aids available to players nowadays, tweeting in no uncertain terms…
There are only 4 betting streets in NL Hold em. If you use a solver/external aid to help you make decisions on the first one, you are a clear cut and unambiguous cheater. You are stealing from your fellow competitors and should be shamed and shunned from the community. Full stop
— Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet) July 10, 2021
That led to an appearance on the Doug Polk podcast, the title being clickbait – “Is this the next CHEATING SCANDAL in poker?” – but the discussion a much-needed and illuminating one…
For those players who aren’t up-to-speed with the looming and indeed existing threat to online poker, Real Time Assistance (RTA) is the use of pretty much anything that aids a player in making a decision during a game or tournament.
This help can be completely automated, such as a HUD (Head-Up Display) or require manual input such as a solver, and covers everything from simple push/fold and range charts through ICM equity calculators all the way up to GTO solvers.
Recent usage of solvers
GGPoker, for example, ban all of those and allow only the most basic reference material, for beginners, of a preflop chart defining the relative worth of starting hands in each position.
Terms and conditions of sites notwithstanding, there have been numerous cases of poker pros using such banned assistance, last year’s case we revealed involving Fedor “GlitchSystem” Kruse the most infamous of all.
Kruse was accused by his own flatmates of using RTA during cash games on PokerStars ad other sites. His “dream machine” (pictured below) was loaded with thousands of pre-solved cash game spots separated into different folders. These allowed Kruse to access them at the click of a mouse and follow solver advice without exactly.
GGPoker responded by launching an investigation and enhancing their RTA detection methods, revealing: “
“Through our upgraded detection methods, we have discovered a small group of RTA users on GGPN. We have taken immediate action on those accounts as we continue to develop our processes.”
That action involved banning 40 accounts and confiscating almost $1.2million, with warnings issued to many more players.
Back to Busquet and Polk and their lengthy discussion on all aspects of online poker cheating and the general opinion seemed to be that Busquet was spot on.
Agree w @olivierbusquet on pretty much everything here. Great convo.
Even though I agree with Olivier, I find him completely insufferable on Twitter, Youtube, & text. At the same time he is 100% always a pleasure to be around in real world. Hard to wrap my head around it.
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) July 14, 2021
It’s certainly not a topic that will be going away anytime soon. Feel free to share your own thoughts about RTA in online poker on our social media channels.
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